10,992 entries for Inspections - State
BackFive hundred and thirty (530) witnesses (67%) reported that their parents were unskilled at the time of their admission to out-of-home care and a further 97 reported that their parents’ skill levels were unknown to them. There were 5% more female witnesses reporting such lack of information than male witnesses.
Six hundred and eighty four (684) of the 791 witnesses (86%) reported that they had brothers and/or sisters, some or all of whom may also have been in out-of-home care. A further 38 witnesses reported not knowing whether or not they had any siblings. For the purpose of this Report, half-brothers and sisters are included as siblings when the witness reported having lived with them as family members. The following table indicates approximate family size reported by witnesses:<br><table><colgroup><col></col><col></col></colgroup><thead><tr><th><strong>Number of siblings</strong></th>
 <th><strong>Number of witnesses</strong></th>
 </tr></thead><tbody><tr><td>0</td>
 <td> 69</td>
 </tr><tr><td>1 – 5</td>
 <td>405</td>
 </tr><tr><td>6 – 10</td>
 <td>209</td>
 </tr><tr><td>11 – 15</td>
 <td> 64</td>
 </tr><tr><td>16+</td>
 <td> 6</td>
 </tr><tr><td>Unknown</td>
 <td> 38</td>
 </tr><tr><td><strong>Total</strong></td>
 <td><strong>791</strong></td>
 </tr></tbody></table>
Two hundred and seventy nine (279) witnesses (35%) reported having six or more brothers and sisters with 70 of those witnesses being from families of 12 children or more. The average family size reported by the 684 witnesses was 6 children. The other 107 witnesses were deemed to be single children without siblings, having either stated that they knew they had no siblings or that they have never been able to establish the facts in relation to their family of origin details. Allowing for families represented by more than one witness to the Committee, the 791 witnesses represent 663 families. There were an estimated 4,139 children in those families.
The majority of witnesses reported a relatively settled history in relation to where they resided prior to their admission to a School, as shown in the following table:<br><table><colgroup><col></col><col></col><col></col><col></col><col></col><col></col><col></col></colgroup><thead><tr><th><strong>Number of prior residences</strong></th>
 <th><strong>Males </strong></th>
 <th><strong>%</strong></th>
 <th><strong>Females </strong></th>
 <th><strong>%</strong></th>
 <th><strong>Total</strong><br></br><strong>witnesses</strong></th>
 <th><strong>%</strong></th>
 </tr></thead><tbody><tr><td>One</td>
 <td>312</td>
 <td> 76</td>
 <td>261</td>
 <td> 69</td>
 <td>573</td>
 <td>72</td>
 </tr><tr><td>Two</td>
 <td> 47</td>
 <td> 11</td>
 <td> 55</td>
 <td> 15</td>
 <td>102</td>
 <td>13</td>
 </tr><tr><td>Three</td>
 <td> 8</td>
 <td> 2</td>
 <td> 7</td>
 <td> 2</td>
 <td> 15</td>
 <td> 2</td>
 </tr><tr><td>Four</td>
 <td> 2</td>
 <td> (0)</td>
 <td> 0</td>
 <td> 0</td>
 <td> 2</td>
 <td>(0)</td>
 </tr><tr><td>Five</td>
 <td> 0</td>
 <td> 0</td>
 <td> 2</td>
 <td> 1</td>
 <td> 2</td>
 <td>(0)</td>
 </tr><tr><td>Unavailable</td>
 <td> 44</td>
 <td> 11</td>
 <td> 53</td>
 <td> 14</td>
 <td> 97</td>
 <td>12</td>
 </tr><tr><td><strong>Total</strong></td>
 <td><strong>413</strong></td>
 <td><strong>100</strong></td>
 <td><strong>378</strong></td>
 <td><strong>(100)*</strong></td>
 <td><strong>791</strong></td>
 <td><strong>(100)*</strong></td>
 </tr></tbody></table>
Five hundred and seventy three (573) witnesses (72%) reported that admission to a School was their first change of residence. Approximately half of these witnesses reported being admitted to a School from their family home in the context of some crisis and consequent intervention. A further 102 witnesses (13%) reported having two changes of residence before they were admitted to the School system, many of which were placements in Children’s Homes from mother and baby homes or foster care prior to being transferred to an Industrial School. The 97 witnesses reported as unknown in this category are a combination of witnesses who did not have any information about their early circumstances or who did not provide information about their residence prior to admission. As may be observed, male witnesses reported somewhat more stability in their place of residence prior to admission to the School system, with 7% more male witnesses reporting only one prior residence.
Witnesses who gave evidence to the Committee reported that they were born in 25 of the 26 counties in the Republic of Ireland and in two of the Northern Ireland counties, in addition to England, Scotland and Wales. See the following table for details:<br><table><colgroup><col></col><col></col><col></col><col></col></colgroup><thead><tr><th><strong>County – place of birth</strong></th>
 <th><strong>Males</strong></th>
 <th><strong>Females</strong></th>
 <th><strong>Total witnesses</strong></th>
 </tr></thead><tbody><tr><td>Carlow</td>
 <td>4</td>
 <td>5</td>
 <td>9</td>
 </tr><tr><td>Cavan</td>
 <td>2</td>
 <td>3</td>
 <td>5</td>
 </tr><tr><td>Clare</td>
 <td>7</td>
 <td>16</td>
 <td>23</td>
 </tr><tr><td>Cork</td>
 <td>64</td>
 <td>37</td>
 <td>101</td>
 </tr><tr><td>Donegal</td>
 <td>2</td>
 <td>0</td>
 <td>2</td>
 </tr><tr><td>Dublin</td>
 <td>188</td>
 <td>140</td>
 <td>328</td>
 </tr><tr><td>Galway</td>
 <td>13</td>
 <td>20</td>
 <td>33 </td>
 </tr><tr><td>Kerry</td>
 <td>6</td>
 <td>12</td>
 <td>18</td>
 </tr><tr><td>Kildare</td>
 <td>3</td>
 <td>8</td>
 <td>11</td>
 </tr><tr><td>Kilkenny</td>
 <td>6</td>
 <td>5</td>
 <td>11</td>
 </tr><tr><td>Laois</td>
 <td>5</td>
 <td>8</td>
 <td>13</td>
 </tr><tr><td>Limerick</td>
 <td>33</td>
 <td>22</td>
 <td>55</td>
 </tr><tr><td>Longford</td>
 <td>3</td>
 <td>0</td>
 <td>3</td>
 </tr><tr><td>Louth</td>
 <td>5</td>
 <td>13</td>
 <td>18</td>
 </tr><tr><td>Mayo</td>
 <td>5</td>
 <td>3</td>
 <td>8</td>
 </tr><tr><td>Meath</td>
 <td>3</td>
 <td>1</td>
 <td>4</td>
 </tr><tr><td>Monaghan</td>
 <td>2</td>
 <td>1</td>
 <td>3</td>
 </tr><tr><td>Offaly</td>
 <td>5</td>
 <td>9</td>
 <td>14</td>
 </tr><tr><td>Roscommon</td>
 <td>1</td>
 <td>7</td>
 <td>8</td>
 </tr><tr><td>Sligo</td>
 <td>2</td>
 <td>3</td>
 <td>5</td>
 </tr><tr><td>Tipperary</td>
 <td>16</td>
 <td>15</td>
 <td>31</td>
 </tr><tr><td>Waterford</td>
 <td>10</td>
 <td>11</td>
 <td>21</td>
 </tr><tr><td>Westmeath</td>
 <td>5</td>
 <td>7</td>
 <td>12</td>
 </tr><tr><td>Wexford</td>
 <td>6</td>
 <td>8</td>
 <td>14</td>
 </tr><tr><td>Wicklow</td>
 <td>2</td>
 <td>4</td>
 <td>6</td>
 </tr><tr><td>Northern Ireland: Derry</td>
 <td>0</td>
 <td>1</td>
 <td>1</td>
 </tr><tr><td>Northern Ireland: Tyrone</td>
 <td>0</td>
 <td>1</td>
 <td>1</td>
 </tr><tr><td>England/Scotland/Wales</td>
 <td>14</td>
 <td>18</td>
 <td>32</td>
 </tr><tr><td>Unknown</td>
 <td>1</td>
 <td>0</td>
 <td>1</td>
 </tr><tr><td><strong>Total</strong></td>
 <td><strong>413</strong></td>
 <td><strong>378</strong></td>
 <td><strong>791</strong></td>
 </tr></tbody></table>
Dublin, Cork, Limerick, Galway and Tipperary were the birth counties of 314 male witnesses (76%) and 234 female witnesses (62%).
A small number of witnesses were of Irish Traveller or mixed-race backgrounds and to maintain anonymity no further information can be provided.
As previously stated and show in the following table, many witnesses who gave evidence to the Committee were residing outside Ireland at the time of their hearing:<br><table><colgroup><col></col><col></col><col></col><col></col><col></col><col></col><col></col></colgroup><thead><tr><th><strong>Country of residence</strong></th>
 <th><strong>Males</strong></th>
 <th><strong>%</strong></th>
 <th><strong>Females</strong></th>
 <th><strong>%</strong></th>
 <th><strong>Total witnesses</strong></th>
 <th><strong>%</strong></th>
 </tr></thead><tbody><tr><td>Ireland</td>
 <td>279</td>
 <td>68</td>
 <td>182</td>
 <td>48</td>
 <td>461</td>
 <td>58</td>
 </tr><tr><td>UK</td>
 <td>118</td>
 <td>29</td>
 <td>172</td>
 <td>46</td>
 <td>290</td>
 <td>37</td>
 </tr><tr><td>USA/Canada</td>
 <td>8</td>
 <td>2</td>
 <td>13</td>
 <td>3</td>
 <td>21</td>
 <td>3</td>
 </tr><tr><td>Australia/New Zealand</td>
 <td>5</td>
 <td>1</td>
 <td>7</td>
 <td>2</td>
 <td>12</td>
 <td>2</td>
 </tr><tr><td>Mainland Europe</td>
 <td>3</td>
 <td>1</td>
 <td>4</td>
 <td>1</td>
 <td>7</td>
 <td>1</td>
 </tr><tr><td><strong>Total</strong></td>
 <td><strong>413</strong></td>
 <td><strong>(100)*</strong></td>
 <td><strong>378</strong></td>
 <td><strong>100</strong></td>
 <td><strong>791</strong></td>
 <td><strong>(100)*</strong></td>
 </tr></tbody></table>
As indicated, there was a significant difference between the numbers of male and female witnesses living in Ireland and in the UK. Sixty eight percent (68%) of male witnesses were living in Ireland at the time of their hearing compared with 48% of female witnesses. Most of the witnesses living in the UK reported being there since they were discharged from the Schools or shortly thereafter. Many commented on the considerable help and assistance they received, both at a personal and professional level, from health and welfare services in the UK.
At the time of their hearings 656 of the 791 witnesses (83%) were over 49 years of age, with 57 of those witnesses aged over 70 years. See Table 10 for more complete details:<br><table><colgroup><col></col><col></col><col></col><col></col><col></col><col></col><col></col></colgroup><thead><tr><th><strong>Age range</strong></th>
 <th><strong>Males</strong></th>
 <th><strong>%</strong></th>
 <th><strong>Females</strong></th>
 <th><strong>%</strong></th>
 <th><strong>Total witnesses</strong></th>
 <th><strong>%</strong></th>
 </tr></thead><tbody><tr><td>30 – 39 years</td>
 <td>12</td>
 <td>3</td>
 <td>6</td>
 <td>2</td>
 <td>18</td>
 <td>2</td>
 </tr><tr><td>40 – 49 years</td>
 <td>54</td>
 <td>13</td>
 <td>63</td>
 <td>17</td>
 <td>117</td>
 <td>15</td>
 </tr><tr><td>50 – 59 years</td>
 <td>186</td>
 <td>45</td>
 <td>193</td>
 <td>51</td>
 <td>379</td>
 <td>48</td>
 </tr><tr><td>60 – 69 years</td>
 <td>119</td>
 <td>29</td>
 <td>101</td>
 <td>27</td>
 <td>220</td>
 <td>28</td>
 </tr><tr><td>70 + years</td>
 <td>42</td>
 <td>10</td>
 <td>15</td>
 <td>4</td>
 <td>57</td>
 <td>7</td>
 </tr><tr><td><strong>Total</strong></td>
 <td><strong>413</strong></td>
 <td><strong>100</strong></td>
 <td><strong>378</strong></td>
 <td><strong>(100)*</strong></td>
 <td><strong>791</strong></td>
 <td><strong>100</strong></td>
 </tr></tbody></table>
As the table demonstrates, 76% of the total number of witnesses who gave evidence in relation to Schools were aged between 50 and 70 years at the time of the hearing. There were some differences between the ages of the male and female witnesses, with 74% of male witnesses aged between 50 and 70 compared with 78% of female witnesses. In addition, 6% more male witnesses were aged over 70 years.
Chapter 4 provides information on the reported circumstances that led to these witnesses being placed in out-of-home care as children.
This chapter describes the circumstances of admission to care of the 413 male and 378 female witnesses who gave evidence to the Committee about their experiences of abuse in Schools. Thirty eight (38) Schools were situated in rural and provincial Ireland and 17 were in cities.
There were 18 junior and senior boys Schools named in evidence to the Committee. The junior Schools admitted boys up to the age of 10 years and were all managed by religious Sisters. Boys were generally transferred to senior boys Schools when they were 10 years old. However evidence was heard of boys being transferred to senior Schools as young as eight years of age and of boys younger than 10 years being placed directly in senior Schools. These Schools were managed by Brothers and/or priests and, with some variations, admitted boys between the ages of 10 and 16 years.